Interconnect for direct memory access controllers

ABSTRACT

A computing device is provided, including a plurality of memory devices, a plurality of direct memory access (DMA) controllers, and an on-chip interconnect. The on-chip interconnect may be configured to implement control logic to convey a read request from a primary DMA controller of the plurality of DMA controllers to a source memory device of the plurality of memory devices. The on-chip interconnect may be further configured to implement the control logic to convey a read response from the source memory device to the primary DMA controller and one or more secondary DMA controllers of the plurality of DMA controllers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/086,010, filed Oct. 30, 2020, the entirety of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

System-on-a-chip (SOC) architectures have become increasingly common asdemand for high-performance computing has grown. In an SOC architecture,data processing and storage capabilities are provided together in anintegrated circuit rather than being provided in separate integratedcircuits connected to the motherboard of a computing device. Bycombining processing and memory functionality into an SOC, computationsmay be performed more quickly as a result of not having to transfer datathrough the motherboard. In addition, using an SOC may allow the sizeand power consumption of the computing device to be reduced.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a computing device isprovided, including a plurality of memory devices, a plurality of directmemory access (DMA) controllers, and an on-chip interconnect. Theon-chip interconnect may be configured to implement control logic toconvey a read request from a primary DMA controller of the plurality ofDMA controllers to a source memory device of the plurality of memorydevices. The on-chip interconnect may be further configured to implementthe control logic to convey a read response from the source memorydevice to the primary DMA controller and one or more secondary DMAcontrollers of the plurality of DMA controllers.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore,the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solveany or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example computing system including asystem on a chip (SOC), according to one example embodiment.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the SOC of FIG. 1 when a read request and aplurality of read responses are transmitted over an on-chipinterconnect.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the SOC of FIG. 1 when a plurality of readreceipts are respectively conveyed to a first subset of a plurality ofdirect memory access (DMA) controllers but not to a second subset of theplurality of DMA controllers.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a read request and a read response, accordingto the embodiment of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 schematically shows a first read response and a second readresponse received at a DMA controller, according to the embodiment ofFIG. 1 .

FIG. 6 schematically shows a first read response including a firstpointer address and a second read response including a second pointeraddress, according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 7A shows a flowchart of a method for use with a computing device,according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 7B-7D show additional steps of the method of FIG. 7A that may beperformed in some examples.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of an example computing environment inwhich the computing system of FIG. 1 may be enacted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an example computing system 1 in which a computing devicein the form of an SOC 10 may be included. In addition to the SOC 10, thecomputing system may include memory 2, one or more processors 4, one ormore input devices 6, one or more output devices 8, and/or one or moreother components. The components of the computing system 1 may, forexample, be electrically coupled over a motherboard. In addition, thecomputing system 1 may be communicatively coupled to one or more othercomputing systems via the one or more input devices 6 and/or the one ormore output devices 8. For example, the computing system 1 may beincluded in a data center in which data processing and storage areperformed at a plurality of interconnected computing systems.

The SOC 10 may include a plurality of memory devices 12. For example,the SOC 10 may include one or more memory devices 12 that function asdynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and one or more memory devices 12that function as static random-access memory (SRAM). Memory devices 12may include other types of random access memory, as well. In addition,the SOC 10 may include one or more processing devices 14. Eachprocessing device 14 of the one or more processing devices 14 may, forexample, be a central processing unit (CPU), a core of a CPU, a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), a core of a GPU, a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The plurality of memory devices 12 may be coupled to the one or moreprocessing devices 14 by an on-chip interconnect 16 via which data maybe transferred. The on-chip interconnect 16 may, for example, be anetwork-on-chip (NoC), a crossbar, or a ring network. In other examples,other network topologies may be used to couple the plurality of memorydevices 12 to the plurality of processing devices 14. In examples inwhich the on-chip interconnect 16 is an NoC, the on-chip interconnect 16may include one or more routers configured to implement packetswitching. In examples in which the on-chip interconnect 16 is acrossbar, the on-chip interconnect 16 may include, for each of the oneor more processing devices 14, a plurality of electrical traces couplingthat processing device 14 to each of the plurality of memory devices 12.

The SOC 10 may further include a plurality of direct memory access (DMA)controllers 20, which may be coupled to the plurality of memory devices12, the one or more processing devices 14, and the on-chip interconnect16. Turning now to FIG. 2 , in which the SOC 10 is shown in additionaldetail, the SOC 10 may include a primary DMA controller 20A and one ormore secondary DMA controllers 20B. The plurality of DMA controllers 20may each be configured to transfer data to and from the memory devices12 of the SOC 10. The DMA controllers 20 may each be configured totransfer data from a source memory device 12A to a destination memorydevice 12B, as discussed in further detail below. In addition, as shownin the example of FIG. 2 , each DMA controller 20 of the plurality ofDMA controllers 20 may be communicatively coupled to a respectiveprocessing device 14 of a plurality of processing devices 14 included inthe SOC 10. Thus, the plurality of DMA controllers 20 may be configuredto transfer data between the plurality of memory devices 12 and theplurality of processing devices 14 as well as between one or more sourcememory devices 12A and one or more destination memory devices 12B.

In existing SOCs, a coherent fabric or a chip-level cache is typicallyused when transferring data between components of the SOC. A coherentfabric is an on-chip interconnect that is configured to implementsnooping logic for the plurality of DMA controllers. The snooping logicmay be implemented when a secondary DMA controller requests data fromthe source memory. In response to receiving a read request for data fromthe source memory, the coherent fabric may implement the snooping logicby querying the destination memory of the primary DMA controller todetermine whether the destination memory of the primary DMA controllerstores the requested data. When the destination memory of the primaryDMA controller includes the requested data, the requested data may becopied into the destination memory of the secondary DMA controller viathe coherent fabric. Thus, cache coherency between the respectivedestination memory devices of the primary DMA controller and thesecondary DMA controller may be maintained. However, implementingsnooping logic may be slow and computationally expensive.

Existing SOCs may alternatively use a chip-level cache (e.g. a level 2or level 3 cache) coupled to the on-chip interconnect. Whenever a DMAcontroller receives data from the source memory, the chip-level cachemay be updated to include the received data. When another DMA requeststhe same data from the source memory, that data may instead be read fromthe chip-level cache. However, updating the chip-level cache increasesthe computational cost of operating the SOC and requires the SOC toinclude an additional hardware component.

In order to address the above issues with existing methods oftransferring data to DMA controllers in an SOC, the on-chip interconnect16 of the SOC 10 may be configured to implement control logic 30 asdiscussed below for the primary DMA controller 20A and the one or moresecondary DMA controllers 20B to implement a read broadcast or a readmulti-cast via one of several possible techniques. The control logic 30is program logic encoded in software instructions (e.g. firmwareinstructions) executed by interconnect processing hardware 18 includedin the on-chip interconnect 16 to control the exchange of messagesthrough the on-chip interconnect 16. For example, when the on-chipinterconnect 16 implements the control logic 30, the on-chipinterconnect 16 may be configured to convey a read request 32 from theprimary DMA controller 20A to the source memory device 12A. The readrequest 32 may be generated at the primary DMA controller 20A and may bea request to copy specific data stored at the source memory device 12Ato one or more destination memory devices 12B included in the SOC 10.

In some examples, a secondary DMA controller 20B of the one or moresecondary DMA controllers 20B may be configured to transmit asynchronization request 36 to the primary DMA controller 20A. Thesynchronization request 36 may be transmitted to the primary DMAcontroller 20A via the on-chip interconnect 16. In such examples, theon-chip interconnect 16 may be configured to implement the control logic30 to convey the read request 32 from the primary DMA controller 20A tothe source memory device 12A in response to the primary DMA controller20A receiving the synchronization request 36. Thus, the secondary DMAcontroller 20B may be configured to request synchronization between datastored in its destination memory device 12B and the destination memorydevice 12B associated with the primary DMA controller 20A.

At the source memory device 12A, the SOC 10 may be configured togenerate a read response 34 based at least in part on the read request32. When the on-chip interconnect 16 implements the control logic 30,the on-chip interconnect 16 may be further configured to convey the readresponse 34 from the source memory device 12A to the primary DMAcontroller 20A and one or more secondary DMA controllers 20B of theplurality of DMA controllers 20. In some examples, the on-chipinterconnect 16 may be configured to convey the read response 34 to eachDMA controller 20 of the plurality of DMA controllers 20 included in theSOC 10. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3 , the on-chip interconnect 16may be configured to convey the read response 34 to a first subset 40 ofthe plurality of DMA controllers 20 and not convey the read response 34to a second subset 42 of the plurality of DMA controllers 20.

As discussed above, the plurality of memory devices 12 may furtherinclude a plurality of destination memory devices 12B respectivelycoupled to the plurality of DMA controllers. Subsequently to receivingthe read response 34, the primary DMA controller 20A and the one or moresecondary DMA controllers 20B may each be configured to write dataincluded in the read response 34 to their corresponding destinationmemory devices 12B. In this way, the data that has been read from thesource memory device 12A is not only communicated to the primary DMAcontroller 20A that requested the data, but also to other DMAcontrollers 20 using a read broadcast or multi-cast approach. Therefore,each of the destination memory devices 12B may keep a coordinated andup-to-date memory cache without requiring a separate chip level cache orsnooping logic.

FIG. 4 schematically shows information that may be included in the readrequest 32 and the read response 34. In the example of FIG. 4 , theon-chip interconnect 16 is shown when a read request 32 is transmittedfrom the primary DMA controller 20A to the source memory device 12A andwhen a read response 34 is transmitted from the source memory device 12Ato the primary DMA controller 20A. As shown in FIG. 4 , the read request32 may include read request header 50, which may include a sequentialrequest indicator 52 and a response recipient indicator 54. Thesequential request indicator 52, may, for example, be a timestamp or asequentially assigned identification number for the read request 32. Theresponse recipient indicator 54 may indicate the first subset 40 of theplurality of DMA controllers 20 to which the read response 34 isconfigured to be conveyed. For example, the response recipient indicator54 may include a corresponding bit for each DMA controller 20 includedin the SOC 10 that indicates whether that DMA controller 20 isconfigured to receive the read response 34. Thus, the sequential requestindicator 52 and the response recipient indicator 54 may form responsemulticast metadata that identifies both the read request 32 and theplurality of DMA controllers 20 that are configured to receive a readresponse 34. In addition to the read request header 50, the read request32 may further include a source memory access location 56, which may bea pointer to a location in the source memory device 12A.

The example read response 34 shown in FIG. 4 may include a read responseheader 60 and a read response payload 66. The read response header 60may include metadata for the read response 34, and the read responsepayload 66 may include the data received from the source memory device12A in response to the read request 32. The read response header 60 mayinclude a sequential response indicator 62, which may, for example, be atimestamp or a sequentially assigned identification number. In addition,the read response header 60 may include a pointer address 64 indicatinga location in the destination memory device 12B to which the DMAcontroller 20 that receives the read response 34 may be configured towrite the read response payload 66. In some examples, the read responseheader 60 of the read response 34 may further include a primary DMAidentifier 65 that indicates which DMA controller 20 of the plurality ofDMA controllers 20 is the primary DMA controller 20A that initiated theread request 32 with which the read response 34 is associated. The readresponse 34 may be identified as being associated with the read request32 by, in some examples, including the sequential request indicator 52as well as the sequential response indicator 62 in the read responseheader 60. Alternatively, the state of the read request 32 and the readresponse 34 may be monitored at an agent executed at the processingdevice 14 of the primary DMA controller 20A.

As shown in the example of FIG. 5 , at least one DMA controller 20 ofthe plurality of DMA controllers 20 may be configured to receive aplurality of read responses 34. In the example of FIG. 5 , a DMAcontroller 20 receives a first read response 34A at a time to and asecond read response 34B at a time t₁. The first read response 34A has afirst sequential response indicator 62A included in a first readresponse header 60A, and further includes a first primary DMA identifier65A and a first read response payload 66A. The second read response 34Bhas a second sequential response indicator 62B included in a second readresponse header 60B, and further includes a second primary DMAidentifier 65B and a second read response payload 66B. In some examples,the on-chip interconnect 16 may be configured to transmit a plurality ofread responses to the primary DMA controller 20A and the one or moresecondary DMA controllers 20B in some order other than the order inwhich the corresponding plurality of read requests 32 were received. Inorder for the respective read response payloads 66 of the plurality ofread responses 34 to be written to the destination memory device 12B inthe correct order, the on-chip interconnect 16 may be configured todetermine a write order 68 indicated by the respective sequentialresponse indicators 62 of the plurality of read responses 34. The DMAcontroller 20 may then write the respective read response payloads 66 ofthe plurality of read responses 34 to the corresponding destinationmemory device 12B of the DMA controller 20 as specified by the writeorder 68. In the example of FIG. 5 , although the first read response34A is received prior to the second read response 34B, the on-chipinterconnect 16 is configured to compute a write order 68 in which thesecond read response payload 66B is written to the destination memorydevice 12B at time t₂ before the first read response payload 66A iswritten to the destination memory device 12B at time t₃. For example,when the sequential response indicators 62 of the plurality of readresponses 34 are sequentially ordered numbers, the on-chip interconnect16 may compute the write order 68 such that the plurality of readresponses 34 are written to the destination memory device 12B inascending sequential response indicator order.

In some examples, the plurality of DMA controllers 20 may be configuredto write the data included in the read response 34 to a plurality ofdifferent respective pointer addresses 64 at their correspondingdestination memory devices 12B. As shown in the example of FIG. 6 , theprimary DMA controller 20A is configured to receive a first readresponse 134A including a first pointer address 164A. Similarly, thesecondary DMA controller 20B is configured to receive a second readresponse 134B including a second pointer address 164B. Subsequently toreceiving the first read response 134A, the primary DMA controller 20Amay be further configured to write the read response payload 66 includedin the first read response 134A to the first pointer address 164A of afirst destination memory device 112A coupled to the primary DMAcontroller 20A. In addition, subsequently to receiving the second readresponse 134B, the secondary DMA controller 20B may be furtherconfigured to write the read response payload 66 included in the secondread response 134B to the second pointer address 164B of a seconddestination memory device 112B coupled to the secondary DMA controller20B. As a result of writing the read response payload 66 to differentpointer addresses in the first destination memory device 112A and thesecond destination memory device 112B, different memory allocationschemes may be used at the first destination memory device 112A and thesecond destination memory device 112B. Thus, more efficient memoryallocation may be achieved.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the primary DMA controller 20A may be coupled to afirst processing device 114A, and the secondary DMA controller 20B maybe coupled to a second processing device 114B. In some examples, whenthe primary DMA controller 20A and the secondary DMA controller 20Brespectively receive the first read response 134A and the second readresponse 134B, the primary DMA controller 20A and the secondary DMAcontroller 20B may be further configured to load the read responsepayload 66 into the first processing device 114A and the secondprocessing device 114B respectively. In such examples, the first readresponse 134A and the second read response 134B may respectively includefirst processing setting metadata 138A and second processing settingmetadata 138B. The first processing setting metadata 138A and the secondprocessing setting metadata 138B may include settings with which thefirst processing device 114A and the second processing device 114B maybe configured to perform one or more computations on read responsepayload 66. In some examples, the first processing setting metadata 138Aand the second processing setting metadata 138B may indicate one or morerespective preprocessing steps that may be performed on the readresponse payload prior to writing the read response payload to the firstdestination memory device 112A and the second destination memory device112B. The one or more preprocessing steps may, for example, be one ormore steps of a compression operation or an encryption operation.

FIG. 7A shows a flowchart of an example method 200 for use with acomputing device. The computing device at which the method 200 isperformed may be an SOC, such as the SOC 10 of FIG. 1 . At step 202, themethod 200 may include implementing control logic at an on-chipinterconnect for a plurality of DMA controllers. The on-chipinterconnect may, for example, be an NoC, a crossbar, or a ring network.The plurality of DMA controllers may be configured to perform directmemory access for a plurality of memory devices included in the SOC. Theplurality of memory devices may include a source memory device, whichmay be an SRAM device, and a plurality of destination memory devices,which may be a plurality of DRAM devices respectively coupled to theplurality of DMA controllers. In addition, the plurality of DMAcontrollers may be respectively coupled to a plurality of processingdevices. Each processing device of the plurality of processing devicesmay, for example, be a CPU, a core of a CPU, a GPU, a core of a GPU, anFPGA, or an ASIC.

Step 202 may include, at step 204, conveying a read request from aprimary DMA controller of the plurality of DMA controllers to the sourcememory device of the plurality of memory devices. The read request maybe generated at the primary DMA and may be a request to transmit datastored at the source memory device to a plurality of destination memorydevices via the on-chip interconnect and two or more of the plurality ofDMAs.

At step 206, step 202 may further include conveying a read response fromthe source memory device to the primary DMA controller and one or moresecondary DMA controllers of the plurality of DMA controllers. FIG. 7Bshows additional steps of the method 200 that may be performed whenperforming step 206. As shown in FIG. 7B at step 208, conveying the readresponse to the primary DMA controller and the one or more secondary DMAcontrollers at step 206 may, in some examples, include conveying theread response to each DMA controller of the plurality of DMAcontrollers. Alternatively, as shown at step 210 of FIG. 7B, step 206may include conveying the read response to a first subset of theplurality of DMA controllers. When step 210 is performed, step 206 mayfurther include, at step 212, not conveying the read response to asecond subset of the plurality of DMA controllers. In some examples, theread request may include an indication of which DMA controllers of theplurality of DMA controllers are configured to receive copies of theread response.

FIG. 7C shows additional steps of the method 200 that may be performedin some examples. At step 214, the method 200 may further includetransmitting a synchronization request from a secondary DMA controllerof the one or more secondary DMA controllers to the primary DMAcontroller. The synchronization request may be transmitted via theon-chip interconnect when implementing the control logic at step 202.Step 214 may be performed prior to transmitting the read request to thesource memory at step 204. In examples in which step 214 is performed,the method 200 may further include, at step 216, conveying the readrequest from the primary DMA controller to the source memory device inresponse to the primary DMA controller receiving the synchronizationrequest. Thus, when the primary DMA controller receives thesynchronization request, the primary DMA controller may convey a readrequest to the source memory to synchronize data stored in thedestination memory of the primary DMA controller and the destinationmemory of the secondary DMA controller.

FIG. 7D also shows additional steps of the method 200 that may beperformed in some examples. At step 218, the method 200 may includereceiving a plurality of read responses at a DMA controller of theplurality of DMA controllers. For example, the DMA controller may be asecondary DMA controller that receives a plurality of read responsesassociated with read requests it did not originate.

At step 220, the method 200 may further include, at each of the primaryDMA controller and the one or more secondary DMA controllers, writingdata included in the read response to their corresponding destinationmemory devices. In some examples, the read response may include asequential response indicator. The sequential response indicator may beincluded in a read response header, and may, for example, be a timestampor a sequentially assigned number.

In examples in which step 218 is performed and the read responseincludes a sequential response indicator, step 220 may include, at step222, writing the respective data included in the plurality of readresponses to the corresponding destination memory device of the at leastone DMA controller in a write order indicated by the respectivesequential response indicators of the plurality of read responses. Forexample, the write order may be set as a temporal order of respectivetimestamps included in the plurality of read responses. If the readresponses are received at the DMA controller out of temporal order, theread responses may still be written to the destination memory device ofthe DMA controller in the temporal order in which the read responseswere generated.

In some examples, step 220 may further include step 224. Step 224 mayinclude, at the plurality of DMA controllers, writing the data includedin the read response to a plurality of different respective pointeraddresses at their corresponding destination memory devices. The pointeraddress for each read response may, for example, be indicated in aheader of the read response.

Using the systems and methods discussed above, data stored in the sourcememory may be shared with the plurality of DMA controllers without usinglarge amounts of source memory read bandwidth. The above systems andmethods may also allow the additional hardware complexity andcomputational costs associated with a coherent fabric or a chip-levelcache to be avoided. In addition, since different processing settings orpointer addresses may be used for read responses received at differentDMA controllers, the systems and methods discussed above may furtherallow for increased flexibility in the processing and storage of dataincluded in the read responses received at the DMA controllers.

In some embodiments, the methods and processes described herein may betied to a computing system of one or more computing devices. Inparticular, such methods and processes may be implemented as acomputer-application program or service, an application-programminginterface (API), a library, and/or other computer-program product.

FIG. 8 schematically shows a non-limiting embodiment of a computingsystem 300 that can enact one or more of the methods and processesdescribed above. Computing system 300 is shown in simplified form.Computing system 300 may embody the computing system 1 described aboveand illustrated in FIG. 1 . Computing system 300 may take the form ofone or more personal computers, server computers, tablet computers,home-entertainment computers, network computing devices, gaming devices,mobile computing devices, mobile communication devices (e.g., smartphone), and/or other computing devices, and wearable computing devicessuch as smart wristwatches and head mounted augmented reality devices.

Computing system 300 includes a logic processor 302 volatile memory 304,and a non-volatile storage device 306. Computing system 300 mayoptionally include a display subsystem 308, input subsystem 310,communication subsystem 312, and/or other components not shown in FIG. 8.

Logic processor 302 includes one or more physical devices configured toexecute instructions. For example, the logic processor may be configuredto execute instructions that are part of one or more applications,programs, routines, libraries, objects, components, data structures, orother logical constructs. Such instructions may be implemented toperform a task, implement a data type, transform the state of one ormore components, achieve a technical effect, or otherwise arrive at adesired result.

The logic processor may include one or more physical processors(hardware) configured to execute software instructions. Additionally oralternatively, the logic processor may include one or more hardwarelogic circuits or firmware devices configured to executehardware-implemented logic or firmware instructions. Processors of thelogic processor 302 may be single-core or multi-core, and theinstructions executed thereon may be configured for sequential,parallel, and/or distributed processing. Individual components of thelogic processor optionally may be distributed among two or more separatedevices, which may be remotely located and/or configured for coordinatedprocessing. Aspects of the logic processor may be virtualized andexecuted by remotely accessible, networked computing devices configuredin a cloud-computing configuration. In such a case, these virtualizedaspects are run on different physical logic processors of variousdifferent machines, it will be understood.

Non-volatile storage device 306 includes one or more physical devicesconfigured to hold instructions executable by the logic processors toimplement the methods and processes described herein. When such methodsand processes are implemented, the state of non-volatile storage device306 may be transformed—e.g., to hold different data.

Non-volatile storage device 306 may include physical devices that areremovable and/or built-in. Non-volatile storage device 306 may includeoptical memory (e.g., CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc.),semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, etc.),and/or magnetic memory (e.g., hard-disk drive, floppy-disk drive, tapedrive, MRAM, etc.), or other mass storage device technology.Non-volatile storage device 306 may include nonvolatile, dynamic,static, read/write, read-only, sequential-access, location-addressable,file-addressable, and/or content-addressable devices. It will beappreciated that non-volatile storage device 306 is configured to holdinstructions even when power is cut to the non-volatile storage device306.

Volatile memory 304 may include physical devices that include randomaccess memory. Volatile memory 304 is typically utilized by logicprocessor 302 to temporarily store information during processing ofsoftware instructions. It will be appreciated that volatile memory 304typically does not continue to store instructions when power is cut tothe volatile memory 304.

Aspects of logic processor 302, volatile memory 304, and non-volatilestorage device 306 may be integrated together into one or morehardware-logic components. Such hardware-logic components may includefield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), program- andapplication-specific integrated circuits (PASIC/ASICs), program- andapplication-specific standard products (PSSP/ASSPs), system-on-a-chip(SOC), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), for example.

The terms “module,” “program,” and “engine” may be used to describe anaspect of computing system 300 typically implemented in software by aprocessor to perform a particular function using portions of volatilememory, which function involves transformative processing that speciallyconfigures the processor to perform the function. Thus, a module,program, or engine may be instantiated via logic processor 302 executinginstructions held by non-volatile storage device 306, using portions ofvolatile memory 304. It will be understood that different modules,programs, and/or engines may be instantiated from the same application,service, code block, object, library, routine, API, function, etc.Likewise, the same module, program, and/or engine may be instantiated bydifferent applications, services, code blocks, objects, routines, APIs,functions, etc. The terms “module,” “program,” and “engine” mayencompass individual or groups of executable files, data files,libraries, drivers, scripts, database records, etc.

When included, display subsystem 308 may be used to present a visualrepresentation of data held by non-volatile storage device 306. Thevisual representation may take the form of a graphical user interface(GUI). As the herein described methods and processes change the dataheld by the non-volatile storage device, and thus transform the state ofthe non-volatile storage device, the state of display subsystem 308 maylikewise be transformed to visually represent changes in the underlyingdata. Display subsystem 308 may include one or more display devicesutilizing virtually any type of technology. Such display devices may becombined with logic processor 302, volatile memory 304, and/ornon-volatile storage device 306 in a shared enclosure, or such displaydevices may be peripheral display devices.

When included, input subsystem 310 may comprise or interface with one ormore user-input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or gamecontroller. In some embodiments, the input subsystem may comprise orinterface with selected natural user input (NUI) componentry. Suchcomponentry may be integrated or peripheral, and the transduction and/orprocessing of input actions may be handled on- or off-board. Example NUIcomponentry may include a microphone for speech and/or voicerecognition; an infrared, color, stereoscopic, and/or depth camera formachine vision and/or gesture recognition; a head tracker, eye tracker,accelerometer, and/or gyroscope for motion detection and/or intentrecognition; as well as electric-field sensing componentry for assessingbrain activity; and/or any other suitable sensor.

When included, communication subsystem 312 may be configured tocommunicatively couple various computing devices described herein witheach other, and with other devices. Communication subsystem 312 mayinclude wired and/or wireless communication devices compatible with oneor more different communication protocols. As non-limiting examples, thecommunication subsystem may be configured for communication via awireless telephone network, or a wired or wireless local- or wide-areanetwork. In some embodiments, the communication subsystem may allowcomputing system 300 to send and/or receive messages to and/or fromother devices via a network such as the Internet.

The following paragraphs describe several aspects of the presentdisclosure. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, acomputing device is provided, including a plurality of memory devices, aplurality of direct memory access (DMA) controllers, and an on-chipinterconnect. The on-chip interconnect may be configured to implementcontrol logic to convey a read request from a primary DMA controller ofthe plurality of DMA controllers to a source memory device of theplurality of memory devices. The on-chip interconnect may be furtherconfigured to implement the control logic to convey a read response fromthe source memory device to the primary DMA controller and one or moresecondary DMA controllers of the plurality of DMA controllers.

According to this aspect, a secondary DMA controller of the one or moresecondary DMA controllers may be configured to transmit asynchronization request to the primary DMA controller. The on-chipinterconnect may be configured to implement the control logic to conveythe read request from the primary DMA controller to the source memorydevice in response to the primary DMA controller receiving thesynchronization request.

According to this aspect, the plurality of memory devices may furtherinclude a plurality of destination memory devices respectively coupledto the plurality of DMA controllers. The primary DMA controller and theone or more secondary DMA controllers may each be configured to writedata included in the read response to their corresponding destinationmemory devices.

According to this aspect, at least one DMA controller of the pluralityof DMA controllers may be configured to receive a plurality of readresponses. The plurality of read responses may include a respectiveplurality of sequential response indicators.

According to this aspect, the at least one DMA controller of theplurality of DMA controllers may be configured to write the respectivedata included in the plurality of read responses to the correspondingdestination memory device of the at least one DMA controller in a writeorder indicated by the respective sequential response indicators of theplurality of read responses.

According to this aspect, the plurality of DMA controllers may beconfigured to write the data included in the read response to aplurality of different respective pointer addresses at theircorresponding destination memory devices.

According to this aspect, the on-chip interconnect may be configured toimplement the control logic to convey the read response to each DMAcontroller of the plurality of DMA controllers.

According to this aspect, the on-chip interconnect may be configured toimplement the control logic to convey the read response to a firstsubset of the plurality of DMA controllers and not convey the readresponse to a second subset of the plurality of DMA controllers.

According to this aspect, the read request may indicate the first subset of the plurality of DMA controllers to which the read response isconfigured to be conveyed.

According to this aspect, the computing device may further include arespective plurality of processing devices communicatively coupled tothe plurality of DMA controllers. Each processing device of theplurality of processing devices may be a central processing unit (CPU),a core of a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a core of a GPU, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

According to this aspect, the on-chip interconnect may be anetwork-on-chip (NoC), a crossbar, or a ring network.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for usewith a computing device is provided. The method may include, at anon-chip interconnect, implementing control logic for a plurality ofdirect memory access (DMA) controllers. The control logic may beimplemented at least in part by conveying a read request from a primaryDMA controller of the plurality of DMA controllers to a source memorydevice of a plurality of memory devices. The control logic may befurther implemented by conveying a read response from the source memorydevice to the primary DMA controller and one or more secondary DMAcontrollers of the plurality of DMA controllers.

According to this aspect, the method may further include transmitting asynchronization request from a secondary DMA controller of the one ormore secondary DMA controllers to the primary DMA controller. The methodmay further include conveying the read request from the primary DMAcontroller to the source memory device in response to the primary DMAcontroller receiving the synchronization request.

According to this aspect, the plurality of memory devices may furtherinclude a plurality of destination memory devices respectively coupledto the plurality of DMA controllers. The method may further include, ateach of the primary DMA controller and the one or more secondary DMAcontrollers, writing data included in the read response to theircorresponding destination memory devices.

According to this aspect, the method may further include receiving aplurality of read responses at a DMA controller of the plurality of DMAcontrollers. The plurality of read responses may include a respectiveplurality of sequential response indicators.

According to this aspect, the method may further include, at the DMAcontroller of the plurality of DMA controllers, writing the respectivedata included in the plurality of read responses to the correspondingdestination memory device of the at least one DMA controller in a writeorder indicated by the respective sequential response indicators of theplurality of read responses.

According to this aspect, the method may further include, at theplurality of DMA controllers, writing the data included in the readresponse to a plurality of different respective pointer addresses attheir corresponding destination memory devices.

According to this aspect, implementing the control logic may furtherinclude conveying the read response to a first subset of the pluralityof DMA controllers and not conveying the read response to a secondsubset of the plurality of DMA controllers.

According to this aspect, the read request may indicate the first subsetof the plurality of DMA controllers to which the read response isconfigured to be conveyed.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computingdevice is provided, including a plurality of memory devices and aplurality of direct memory access (DMA) controllers including a primaryDMA controller and one or more secondary DMA controllers. A secondaryDMA controller of the one or more secondary DMA controllers may beconfigured to transmit a synchronization request to the primary DMAcontroller. The primary DMA controller may be configured to transmit aread request to a source memory device of the plurality of memorydevices in response to receiving the synchronization request. Thecomputing device may further include an on-chip interconnect configuredto implement control logic to convey the read request from the primaryDMA controller to the source memory device. The on-chip interconnect maybe further configured to implement the control logic to convey a readresponse from the source memory device to the primary DMA controller andthe one or more secondary DMA controllers. The primary DMA controllerand the one or more secondary DMA controllers may each be configured towrite data included in the read response to corresponding destinationmemory devices of the plurality of memory devices.

It will be understood that the configurations and/or approachesdescribed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specificembodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense,because numerous variations are possible. The specific routines ormethods described herein may represent one or more of any number ofprocessing strategies. As such, various acts illustrated and/ordescribed may be performed in the sequence illustrated and/or described,in other sequences, in parallel, or omitted. Likewise, the order of theabove-described processes may be changed.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel andnon-obvious combinations and sub-combinations of the various processes,systems and configurations, and other features, functions, acts, and/orproperties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.

1. An integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of direct memory access(DMA) controllers; and an on-chip interconnect configured to implementcontrol logic to: convey a read request from a primary DMA controller ofthe plurality of DMA controllers to a source memory device; andbroadcast or multi-cast a read response by conveying respective copiesof the read response from the source memory device to the primary DMAcontroller and one or more secondary DMA controllers, each of theprimary DMA controller and one or more secondary DMA controllers havinga corresponding on-chip destination memory device, wherein the primaryDMA controller and the one or more secondary DMA controllers are eachconfigured to write data included in the read response to a plurality ofdifferent respective pointer addresses at the corresponding on-chipdestination memory devices for the respective primary and secondary DMAcontrollers.
 2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein: a secondaryDMA controller of the one or more secondary DMA controllers isconfigured to transmit a synchronization request to the primary DMAcontroller; and the on-chip interconnect is configured to implement thecontrol logic to convey the read request from the primary DMA controllerto the source memory device in response to the primary DMA controllerreceiving the synchronization request.
 3. The integrated circuit ofclaim 2, wherein the on-chip interconnect is configured to synchronizerespective memory caches of the on-chip destination memory devices bywriting the data included in the read response to the on-chipdestination memory devices.
 4. The integrated circuit of claim 1,wherein the on-chip interconnect is configured to implement the controllogic to convey the read response to each DMA controller of theplurality of DMA controllers.
 5. The integrated circuit of claim 1,wherein the on-chip interconnect is configured to implement the controllogic to: convey the read response to a first subset of the plurality ofDMA controllers; and not convey the read response to a second subset ofthe plurality of DMA controllers.
 6. The integrated circuit of claim 5,wherein the read request indicates the first subset of the plurality ofDMA controllers to which the read response is configured to be conveyed.7. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising a respectiveplurality of processing devices communicatively coupled to the pluralityof DMA controllers, wherein each processing device of the plurality ofprocessing devices is a central processing unit (CPU), a core of a CPU,a graphics processing unit (GPU), a core of a GPU, a field-programmablegate array (FPGA), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).8. The integrated circuit of claim 7, wherein the read response furtherincludes processing setting metadata that indicates a preprocessingoperation that the respective processing devices are configured to applyto the data included in the read response prior to writing to dataincluded in the read response to the destination memory devices.
 9. Theintegrated circuit of claim 7, wherein the preprocessing operation is acompression operation or an encryption operation.
 10. The integratedcircuit of claim 1, wherein the pointer addresses are included inrespective headers of the copies of the read response.
 11. A method foruse with an integrated circuit that includes a plurality of directmemory access (DMA) controllers and an on-chip interconnect, the methodcomprising implementing control logic at the on-chip interconnect atleast in part by: conveying a read request from a primary DMA controllerof the plurality of DMA controllers to a source memory device; andbroadcasting or multi-cast a read response by conveying respectivecopies of the read response from the source memory device to the primaryDMA controller and one or more secondary DMA controllers, each of theprimary DMA controller and one or more secondary DMA controllers havinga corresponding on-chip destination memory device, wherein the primaryDMA controller and the one or more secondary DMA controllers are eachconfigured to write data included in the read response to a plurality ofdifferent respective pointer addresses at the corresponding on-chipdestination memory devices for the respective primary and secondary DMAcontrollers.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: at asecondary DMA controller of the one or more secondary DMA controllers,transmitting a synchronization request to the primary DMA controller;and at the on-chip interconnect, implementing the control logic toconvey the read request from the primary DMA controller to the sourcememory device in response to the primary DMA controller receiving thesynchronization request.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising,at the on-chip interconnect, synchronizing respective memory caches ofthe on-chip destination memory devices by writing the data included inthe read response to the on-chip destination memory devices.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising, at the on-chip interconnect:conveying the read response to a first subset of the plurality of DMAcontrollers; and not conveying the read response to a second subset ofthe plurality of DMA controllers.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinthe read request indicates the first subset of the plurality of DMAcontrollers to which the read response is conveyed.
 16. The method ofclaim 11, wherein: the integrated circuit further includes a respectiveplurality of processing devices communicatively coupled to the pluralityof DMA controllers; the read response further includes processingsetting metadata that indicates a preprocessing operation; and themethod further comprises, at the respective processing devices, applyingthe preprocessing operation to the data included in the read responseprior to writing to data included in the read response to thedestination memory devices.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein thepreprocessing operation is a compression operation or an encryptionoperation.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the pointer addresses areincluded in respective headers of the copies of the read response. 19.An integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of direct memory access(DMA) controllers; a respective plurality of processing devicescommunicatively coupled to the plurality of DMA controllers; and anon-chip interconnect configured to implement control logic to: convey aread request from a primary DMA controller of the plurality of DMAcontrollers to a source memory device; and broadcast or multi-cast aread response by conveying respective copies of the read response fromthe source memory device to the primary DMA controller and one or moresecondary DMA controllers, each of the primary DMA controller and one ormore secondary DMA controllers having a corresponding on-chipdestination memory device; control the processing devices to apply apreprocessing operation to data included in the read response; andcontrol the primary DMA controller and the one or more secondary DMAcontrollers to write the data included in the read response tocorresponding on-chip destination memory devices associated with therespective primary and secondary DMA controllers subsequently toapplying the preprocessing operation.
 20. The integrated circuit ofclaim 19, wherein the preprocessing operation is a compression operationor an encryption operation.